Hour 4 of Ottawa Now for Tues. September 1st, 2026

Canadian scientists are purposely spraying an influenza virus into the noses of human volunteers, joining other nations in controlled human infection studies that, while speeding vaccine development in preparation for future pandemics, have also raised ethical uneasiness. The experiment, one of the first of its kind in Canada, involves exposing consenting adults to a dose of a seasonal influenza virus, monitoring their symptoms and immune responses, administering antiviral drugs if necessary and keeping volunteers in special isolation “pods” for at least a week until they test negative...